Old Route 66 became one of the most fabled highways in the U.S., immortalized in song, literature, and a T.V. series as the main street of America. Automobiles came early to the desert, following the railroad and its reliable water sources. In the early 1900's the route was known as the National Old Trails Road. In 1926 it became U.S. Highway 66, and within a decade it was paved all the way from L.A. to Chicago. Heavy travel by dustbowl emigrants led John Steinbeck to call it the Mother Road. Chambless was a typical roadside stop until Interstate 40 bypassed it in 1973, and the Route 66 designation was officially dropped in 1985.
